Consultation on making County Durham a safer place 2024-2029

Background

We are responsible for working together with organisations such as the police, fire and rescue service, and NHS, to help to improve safety and reduce crime, disorder, and anti-social behaviour in the county. The Safe Durham Partnership Strategy 2024-29 sets out what things we're going to focus on to make the county safe.

Safe Durham Partnership Strategy

The Strategy is created by the Safe Durham Partnership (SDP). Partners have agreed that the SDP should focus on areas where it can make a difference, that the Strategy should have fewer areas of focus, and that these should be easy to understand.

In producing this Strategy, we have considered evidence from Durham Insight as our strategic assessment, as well as feedback from various ongoing consultations and from our partners.

The SDP priorities consist of three umbrella priorities which cover work done across the County. Within this, each priority has:

• Areas of focus: The SDP will champion the areas that need further focus or development. There may be a specific local need or issue to tackle, potential impact from national or international events or actions, or the SDP may be the key governance arrangement or most appropriate forum. Areas of focus will be agile, flexible, and responsive.
• Areas of assurance: The SDP will provide ongoing oversight and receive regular assurance for the existing partnership arrangements already in place for these areas.

Covering the next five years, it allows enough time for the actions to start to make a difference. Our priorities are:

1. Anti-social behaviour and crime which disrupts our communities
   • Areas of focus: anti-social behaviour
   • Areas of assurance: road safety, reducing re-offending
2. Hate crime and building community cohesion
   • Areas of focus: hate crime
   • Areas of assurance: counter terrorism
3. Sexual violence and other violent crime
   • Areas of focus: sexual violence
   • Areas of assurance: serious violence, domestic abuse, combating drugs and alcohol, organised crime

Leadership in each of the three priority areas will be through one of the existing formally established partnerships, each of which will lead on a high-level delivery plan. In addition to the priorities in the Strategy, the SDP will continue to oversee wider community safety landscape and offer further strategic direction if required.

Draft Safe Durham Partnership Strategy 2024-29 (PDF) [1MB]

Have your say

We want to hear from you so that we know if we are tackling the issues that most affect you.

What happens next

The final version of the strategy will be taken to the Safe Durham Partnership on 20 May 2024 for agreement, it will then go to our Cabinet for final approval.